28.4.09

Javi and I had our second night of Community Garden class ... and he was not happy about it. His class had a field trip during the day ... to a park ... in 90-degree weather ... without much water or shade. Needless to say, Javi wasn't really interested in doing anything once he got home.

But he tried his best. When we got to the garden, he helped me find our plants and sort through them so we could follow the sketch I made after the last class. We ordered 4 tomato, 2 zucchini, 2 eggplant, 6 cucumber, and 8 basil. Unfortunately, we had to stop our little progress for the class, which was on soils.

I don't think anyone in that room really cared about soils, but I did learn some interesting stuff. For instance, the numbers on fertilizer bags (eg., 10-15-20) correspond to the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (respectively) in the bag. You add those numbers up to determine how many nutrients are in the bag. So, 10-15-20 is 45% nutrient ... and 55% sand. A bag of 10-10-10 has 30% nutrient and 70% sand. So you're getting a better deal buying the more expensive stuff because you can use less of it for the same effect. I never buy fertilizer, but that's really good to know!

We also got a sand sample kit that I can use to take samples of the soil in our yard. Once I know what our levels are, I can better plan a little garden right in our back yard ... especially after a summer of the community garden and associated classes.

So after the class, we headed back out to the beds. My mom had joined us by then, so the three of us made quick work of getting all the plants into the soil and well watered. Then we were off. But, I made another stop by this morning to water my beds again. The soil was so dry last night that I didn't want to risk waiting until tonight.

Basil, eggplant, and cucumbers:

All the community beds:

Bella was with me (thanks to pink eye). She LOVED being out there. She immediately started playing in a pile of leftover soil/compost mixture and helped me hold the hose to soak the beds. She also checked out everyone else's beds and then threw a major tantrum when it was time to go. I guess I need to let her come out with us on non-class nights!